Credit Reporting Policy and Statement of Notifiable Matters

McCullough Robertson lawyers and its related companies (referred to in this document as we, us or our) recognise that your privacy is very important and we are committed to protecting the personal information we collect from you.  The Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act), Australian Privacy Principles and registered privacy codes govern how we must manage your personal information.

This Credit Reporting Policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise manage credit-related information.

Our separate Privacy Policy sets out how we collect, use, disclose and otherwise manage other types of personal information.

Both this Credit Reporting Policy and the Privacy Policy are available at www.mccullough.com.au, or on request by contacting us as set out below.

Collection

Kinds of information collected

If you apply for credit from us (in the form of us providing you with services and allowing a time in excess of 7 days to pay the debt for those services), we may collect and hold various information related to your financial position.

We also collect and use all types of ‘credit information’, ‘credit eligibility information’ and ‘CP-derived information’ (as those terms are defined in the Privacy Act).

Credit information is the information we may collect and give to a credit reporting body (such as Veda Advantage Information Services and Solutions Limited (Veda)).

This information includes:

1. identity details
2. the fact that you have applied for services from us, and
3. the fact that we are a credit provider to you.

Credit eligibility information is the information credit reporting bodies (like Veda) provide to us.

CP-derived information means any personal information that is derived from information provided to us by a credit reporting body.  This could be, for instance, a credit score.

In this policy, we refer to ‘credit-related information’ to capture some or all information referred to above (as the context requires).

Method of collection

We will collect your credit-related information if you apply for credit from us or our related entities.  We will collect this information directly from you in most cases, for instance through telephone calls, through our application forms and processes or via email.  We may also collect it from persons acting on your behalf (for instance financial advisors) or from our related entities.

We also collect credit-related information from credit reporting bodies (such as Veda) or from other credit providers where permitted by the Privacy Act.

Purposes of collection, use and disclosure

We collect and use your credit-related information in order to assess your financial position for our internal management purposes that are directly related to the management of our services, and where otherwise required or permitted by law.

We may disclose credit-related information about you to:

1. our related entities, or a person who manages credit, to manage credit or for related internal management purposes that are directly related to the provision or management of commercial credit
2. external dispute resolution providers, and
3. other persons where required or authorised by law.

We may disclose your credit information to Veda or other credit reporting bodies as set out in this Credit Reporting Policy from time to time.  Details of how to obtain a copy of Veda’s credit reporting policy are set out in the Notifiable Matters section below.

Overseas disclosures

We do not presently store credit-related information overseas, but we may disclose credit-related information to credit reporting bodies who engage other parties overseas.

Access and correction

Access

You may access the credit information we hold about you, by making a written request.  We will respond to your request within a reasonable period.  In relation to credit eligibility information specifically, we will provide access within 30 days unless unusual circumstances apply.

Except where prohibited by the Privacy Act and Credit Reporting Privacy Code, we may charge you a reasonable fee for providing access to your personal information (but not for making a request for access).

We may decline a request for access in circumstances prescribed by the Privacy Act, and if we do, we will provide you with a written notice that sets out the reasons for the refusal (unless it would be unreasonable to provide those reasons) and notify you that you may access a recognised external dispute resolution scheme of which we are a member, or make a complaint to the Information Commissioner.

To ensure you have access to the most up-to-date information, you should also request access to credit reporting information held by credit reporting bodies.

Correction

You can ask us to correct your credit-related information.  If we are satisfied that your information is inaccurate, out of date, incomplete, irrelevant or misleading, we will take reasonable steps to update your information within 30 days (or such longer period you agree to in writing) and will provide written notice of that correction.

If we form the view that we will not be able to resolve your correction request within the 30-day time period, we will write to you seeking an extension of time, and notify you that you can complain to a recognised external dispute resolution scheme.

Complaints

If you wish to make a complaint, please contact us as set out below.  Within 7 days we will acknowledge the complaint in writing.  We will then investigate the complaint and consult with third parties we consider it necessary to consult with.  We will provide you our decision within 30 days from the date of your complaint (unless you have agreed to a longer time frame in writing).

Contact:  Privacy Officer
Street address:  Level 11, 66 Eagle Street, Brisbane, Queensland 4000
Email:  privacy
Telephone:  +61 7 3233 8888
Facsimile:  +61 7 3229 9949

Statement of Notifiable Matters under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code

Under the Credit Reporting Privacy Code, there are several ‘notifiable matters’ that we are required to disclose to you at or before the time of collecting personal information that is likely to be disclosed to a credit reporting body.

Those matters are:

1. the credit reporting body may include the credit information we provide to it in reports, which it then provides to other credit providers to assist those other credit providers to assess your credit worthiness
2. if you commit a serious credit infringement, we may disclose this to a credit reporting body
3. you can request a copy of this Credit Reporting Policy by contacting us, or obtain it directly from our website
4. you can request a copy of Veda’s credit reporting policy from its website (www.veda.com.au/privacy) or by contacting them directly by mail to Veda – public access, Veda Advantage Information Services & Solutions, PO Box 964, North Sydney, NSW, 2059
5. you have the right to access credit information we hold about you, request that we correct the information, and make a complaint, as set out further in the remainder of this Credit Reporting Policy
6. you can request a credit reporting body not to use your credit reporting information for the purposes of pre-screening of direct marketing by us, and
7. you can request a credit reporting body not to use or disclose your credit reporting information if you believe on reasonable grounds that you have been, or are likely to be, the victim of fraud.

You can ask us to provide you a hard copy of this policy (including the Statement of Notifiable Matters).